Statements on horse-mounted police units and the human right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
Photo: Victoria Police at the Land Forces arms show in Naarm/Melbourne, September 2024. Photo by Alex Bainbridge/Green Left.
CBC reports: “Ottawa police plan to introduce horse-mounted patrols to the ByWard Market, in response to concerns over crime and public safety in the historic neighbourhood, Chief Eric Stubbs told a public meeting Friday [September 20].”
That article continues: “[Former Royal Canadian Mounted Police assistant commissioner] Stubbs also announced that horse-mounted police would start patrolling the ByWard Market next year. ‘Our goal is to have a mounted unit launched by next April 1,’ he said. Initially, the unit will consist of four horses with plans to expand it to eight, he said.”
While the article focuses on the mounted police focused in the ByWard Market, it is also possible that mounted police could be deployed in response to the weekly Palestinian solidarity marches (that often go through the market) or even at protests against the CANSEC arms show, scheduled for May 28-29, 2025.
Photo: Palestinian solidarity march in ByWard Market, November 2023.
Human rights considerations
In his report to the Human Rights Council earlier this year, Clemet Voule, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, commented: “Law enforcement officials should: (c) Consider that, if mounted or canine units are used, they operate under the use of force framework. Although mounted and canine units are often considered to be less-lethal mediums, there is a potential to cause serious bodily injury, harm or even death, if they are not used correctly. Such units must be deployed in a culturally sensitive manner, given that even the mere presence of dogs and horses can lead to an unnecessary escalation of tension.”
More than 10 years ago, in January 2013, Navanethem Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, also noted: “Horses should not be used for crowd control, the police should not photograph or videotape peaceful protestors, and should be prohibited from making pre-emptive arrests and dispersals.”
The Los Angeles Times has also reported: LAPD’s use of horses to clear crowd condemned by activists, civil rights leaders (January 22, 2021). That article notes the concerns expressed by “Carol Sobel, a prominent attorney whose litigation has forced the LAPD to scale back aggressive crowd control practices in the past.” Sobel described the use of horses to clear crowds as “medieval”.
Amnesty International UK has also raised their concerns about the use of police horses against a Black Lives Matter protest in London in June 2020. They noted: “Various videos have emerged of police horses charging protestors.” Kate Allen, Director of Amnesty International UK, said: “Horses should never be used to charge against demonstrators.”
And the Manchester, UK-based Omega Research Foundation has stated: “Any decision to deploy mounted police must be in-line with the international human rights standards of proportionality and necessity and it must be remembered that horses can react unpredictably when frightened or over stimulated, which may lead to nearby protesters or bystanders being injured. Certain groups may be particularly vulnerable when horses are used to disperse a crowd, particularly those with limited mobility, slow reaction times, or impaired sight (including persons with disabilities, elderly persons, children, pregnant people, for example).”
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has also expressed this same concern: “. People with limited mobility or slow reaction time, including children, may be particularly vulnerable when horses are used to disperse a crowd.”
CANSEC 2025
At the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa earlier this year, PBI-Canada witnessed a large-scale police presence to counter a public protest.
At a similar arms show called the Land Forces Exposition in Melbourne, Australia earlier this month, Melbourne Activist Legal Support (MALS) fielded a team of 20 independent legal observers to monitor the policing of protests.
MALS noted: “Legal observers witnessed multiple incidents of excessive use of force by police including… riding of horses into crowds resulting in injuries.” They further commented: “The behaviour of individual protesters does not justify excessive force against others nor the use of force against entire crowds. The size, nature, or political context of a protest does not change the obligations upon police to act lawfully. Incidents of excessive force documented today by legal observers may constitute unlawful assault by police.”
We will continue to follow this.
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